6.  The applicant was born in 1947 and lives in Älvsjö.
7.  In the autumn of 1994, as part of a large-scale investigation into taxicab operators, the Tax Authority (skattemyndigheten) of the County of Stockholm carried out a tax audit of the applicant’s taxi firm. By decisions of 14 December 1995 and 8 February 1996 the Tax Authority increased the applicant’s liability to income tax, value-added tax and employer’s contributions. Moreover, as the information supplied by the applicant in his tax returns was found to be incorrect and the turnover of the applicant’s business had been revised upwards under a discretionary assessment procedure, the Tax Authority ordered him to pay tax surcharges (skattetillägg, avgiftstillägg) amounting to 20% or 40% of the increased tax liability, depending on the type of tax involved. The additional taxes levied on the applicant, including interest and surcharges, totalled SEK 566,967 Swedish kronor (SEK), of which SEK 99,507 were surcharges. The amounts were payable in February and May 1996.
8.  The applicant appealed against the Tax Authority’s decisions on 4 March 1996. As the appeal had no suspensive effect on the obligation to pay the taxes and tax surcharges, he also requested a stay of execution in respect of the amounts assessed. As the applicant was unable to provide security for the amounts in question, his request was rejected, the final decision being taken by the Supreme Administrative Court (Regeringsrätten) on 17 September 1997.
9.  Meanwhile, the debts relating to the taxes and tax surcharges imposed by the Tax Authority essentially remained outstanding. On 15 April 1997 the Enforcement Office (kronofogdemyndigheten) of the County of Stockholm, representing the State, filed a petition with the District Court (tingsrätten) of Stockholm, requesting that the applicant be declared bankrupt. The Office stated that an investigation had revealed that the value of the applicant’s property was insufficient to cover the debts. By a decision of 12 June 1997 the District Court declared the applicant bankrupt. The declaration was upheld on appeal, the final decision being taken by the Supreme Court (Högsta domstolen) on 26 September 1997.
10.  Moreover, on 31 January 1997 the County Administrative Board (länsstyrelsen) of the County of Stockholm revoked the applicant’s traffic licence (trafiktillstånd) and decided that he was unsuitable to run a commercial taxi business for a period of three years on the ground that he had failed to fulfil his obligations with respect to the payment of taxes and other charges. The decision was upheld on appeal, the final decision being taken by the Supreme Administrative Court on 17 December 1997.
 11.  On 5 September 1997 the Public Prosecution Office (åklagar-myndigheten) in Stockholm indicted the applicant for a suspected bookkeeping offence related to the amounts which were subject to determination in the taxation proceedings. By a judgment of 13 January 1998 the District Court found the applicant guilty of having intentionally failed to enter certain income and salary payments in the books. He was sentenced to two months’ imprisonment. The applicant appealed to the Court of Appeal but subsequently withdrew his appeal. Accordingly, on 14 December 1998 the case was struck out of the appellate court’s list.
12.  By a judgment of 2 December 1998 the County Administrative Court upheld the Tax Authority’s taxation decisions. The judgment was upheld by the Administrative Court of Appeal on 15 February 2001. On 7 May 2002 the Supreme Administrative Court refused the applicant leave to appeal.